Texas Court Records Search (2026) Cases, Dockets & Public Records

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⚠️ Quick context: Texas-Arrests.org is a private educational site — not a government agency. Court records in Texas are held by the specific court that issued them. Always verify case details with the district or county clerk before acting on anything legally binding.

Somewhere in Texas right now, a person is standing in front of a clerk’s counter holding a case number on a piece of paper — and paying $1 per page for something they could have pulled up at home for free. It happens thousands of times a week. The state doesn’t hide its court records. It just spreads them across roughly 2,800 different courts, three separate statewide portals, and 254 county clerks who each do things slightly their own way. Once you know the map, the whole system opens up.

This guide is the map. Every official portal is linked. Every step is the exact sequence you’ll run into when you click. And the small stuff — the shortcuts most articles skip, the reason your name search keeps failing, the difference between “no results” and “no access” — all of it is here.

Written by Khushboo Bobade · Founder, Texas-Arrests.org · 10+ years researching public records in Texas · Every link on this page was manually clicked and verified in April 2026. If any break, tell us — we fix same day.

🎯 TL;DR — The Four Portals That Cover 95% of Texas Court Records

  • re:SearchTX — civil, criminal, family, and probate from 150+ counties. Free registration. Basic search is free; document downloads cost per page.
  • TAMES Case Search — Supreme Court, Court of Criminal Appeals, and all 14 Courts of Appeals. Free. Refreshed nightly.
  • District Clerk — felony, civil district, family, juvenile records in each of the 254 counties.
  • County Clerk — misdemeanor, probate, and smaller civil matters.

How the Texas Court System Actually Works (And Why It Matters for Your Search)

Before you search a single name, understand this: Texas does not have one court system. It has many, stacked on top of each other, and each level keeps its own records. Search the wrong level and you’ll get zero results even when the case is sitting right there in the database.

At the top sit two courts of last resort — the Texas Supreme Court for civil and juvenile matters, and the Court of Criminal Appeals for criminal. Unusual setup. Most states have one. Texas has two. Below those, 14 intermediate Courts of Appeals review trial court decisions from their assigned regions.

Trial courts come next, and this is where most records live. District courts handle felonies, larger civil disputes, family law, and juvenile cases. County courts and county courts at law handle misdemeanors, probate, and smaller civil matters. At the bottom, justice of the peace courts handle small claims, evictions, and Class C misdemeanors, while municipal courts deal with city ordinance violations and traffic tickets.

Here’s the piece that trips everyone up. In the same courthouse — sometimes on the same floor — you’ll find two completely separate clerks. The District Clerk keeps records for the district courts. The County Clerk keeps everything else. They have different phone numbers, different portals, different filing fees, and different hours. Show up at the wrong window and you’ll get redirected and lose your place in line.

💡 Insider shortcut: The cause number format tells you which court has the record. A number like 2024-12345 or D-1-GN-24-001234 is a trial court. A number like 24-0567 or 05-24-00321-CR is appellate. That two-letter suffix at the end (CR = criminal, CV = civil) is a free giveaway about which appellate court to check.

re:SearchTX — The Single Most Useful Portal for Texas Court Records

If you only learn one tool, learn this one. re:SearchTX is the statewide public access portal run by the Texas Office of Court Administration and operated by Tyler Technologies. Think of it as Texas’s answer to PACER, the federal system.

The basic search is free. You do have to register — full name and email — but the account costs nothing. Once in, you can search case information by party name, cause number, or attorney across the counties that participate in the integrated system.

What You Can Actually Pull from re:SearchTX (And What You Can’t)

Available Free
Paid Download
Not Available
Case index information
Full filed documents (~$0.10/page)
Sealed cases
Party names
Pleadings and motions
Juvenile records (most)
Case status
Orders and judgments
Adoption records
Hearing dates
Exhibits
Mental health commitment files
Docket entries
Briefs
Records from non-integrated counties
Attorney of record
 
 

Micro Step-by-Step: Searching re:SearchTX the Right Way

Open research.txcourts.gov in a fresh browser tabGo directly to research.txcourts.gov. Ignore the ads and lookalike sites that show up first on Google — they’re unofficial aggregators charging for data you can get free here.
Click “Register” in the top right cornerYou’ll need a working email (they send a verification link), a password, and your name. Attorneys use their bar number and unlock enhanced access; the public tier is still plenty for most searches.
Verify your email, then log inCheck spam if the verification doesn’t arrive in 2 minutes. The link expires in 24 hours. Miss the window and you’ll have to re-register from scratch.
Click “Search” in the left-hand menu, then pick “Case Search”You’ll see fields for party name, cause number, attorney name, case type, and date range. Only one field is actually required, but the more you fill in, the cleaner your results.
Enter the name last-first — exactly as on a government IDSearch behavior is stricter than Google. “Smith, John” works. “John Smith” may or may not. Nicknames almost never return results. If nothing comes back, try common spelling variants (Rodriguez vs. Rodriquez, Ann vs. Anne, with and without middle initial).
Narrow by county, court, or date if you get too many hitsCommon names can return thousands of matches. Filter by the county where you believe the case was filed or by the year range. The “Court” dropdown lets you pick “District Court” vs. “County Court at Law” — useful when you know the case type.
Click a case to open the docketThe docket sheet shows every filing, order, hearing, and party. Index data is free to view. If you want to read the actual filed motion or order, click the document icon — that’s where per-page charges kick in (refreshed every 30 days).
Save the cause number and countyWrite both down. If you later need to request a certified copy or call the clerk, these are the two pieces of information that get you through the phone tree fastest.
✅ Money-saver: If you’re a party in the case or a self-represented litigant, you don’t pay for documents on your own case. The system auto-recognizes registered parties — make sure your registered name matches the name on the pleadings exactly, otherwise the discount doesn’t apply.
🚨 Watch for this: re:SearchTX purchases are time-limited. Once you pay for a document, you have 30 days to view or download it before it expires. After that, you pay again. Download and save every document to your local drive the first time — don’t rely on the portal retaining access.

TAMES — For Appellate and Supreme Court Cases

If your matter reached the Supreme Court of Texas, the Court of Criminal Appeals, or one of the 14 Courts of Appeals, re:SearchTX won’t help. You need TAMES — the Texas Appeals Management and eFiling System Case Search.

TAMES covers appellate cases only. No trial court records. Free to use — no registration required for basic search. Data refreshes nightly, so anything filed today usually appears tomorrow morning.

The 14 Courts of Appeals and Where They Sit

Supreme Court of Texas

Civil and juvenile final appeals. Based in Austin.

txcourts.gov/supreme →

Court of Criminal Appeals

All criminal final appeals. Also in Austin.

txcourts.gov/cca →

1st & 14th COA — Houston

Harris and surrounding counties.

1st COA →

2nd COA — Fort Worth

Tarrant and North Texas counties.

2nd COA →

3rd COA — Austin

Travis and Hill Country counties.

3rd COA →

4th COA — San Antonio

Bexar and South Texas counties.

4th COA →

5th COA — Dallas

Dallas, Collin, and East-North Texas.

5th COA →

Other Courts of Appeals

6th (Texarkana), 7th (Amarillo), 8th (El Paso), 9th (Beaumont), 10th (Waco), 11th (Eastland), 12th (Tyler), 13th (Corpus Christi/Edinburg), 15th (statewide business).

Full directory →

Using TAMES in 60 Seconds

Go to search.txcourts.govDirect URL: search.txcourts.gov. No login needed for public case search.
Pick the court from the dropdownTop menu lets you choose Supreme Court, Court of Criminal Appeals, or any of the 14 COAs. If you’re not sure which appellate court heard your case, pick “All Courts” and search by party or cause number.
Enter the cause number, party name, or attorneyAppellate cause numbers follow a clean pattern: the first two digits are the filing year, then a sequential number (e.g., 24-0321). COA cases add the COA prefix (05-24-00321-CR).
Open the case page to see the full docket, opinion, and briefsMost opinions are free to download as PDFs. Briefs filed by the parties are usually free too. Oral argument recordings, when available, stream directly in the browser.
💡 Overlooked feature: TAMES has an “Exclude Inactive Cases” toggle. Turn it off when searching old cases — by default, the system hides anything closed and archived, which is a huge portion of the database.

County-Level Portals — What the Big Counties Give You Directly

re:SearchTX covers a lot of ground, but the largest counties run their own case search systems in parallel. These are often faster to update, show more detail, and include types of records (like traffic and municipal) that don’t make it into re:SearchTX at all.

County
What It Covers
Official Search
Harris (Houston)
All district court criminal and civil. District Clerk’s own portal.
hcdistrictclerk.com
Dallas
Criminal, civil, family, probate. County Clerk separate.
Dallas District Clerk
Tarrant (Fort Worth)
District and county-level cases.
Tarrant District Clerk
Bexar (San Antonio)
District, county, probate courts.
Bexar District Clerk
Travis (Austin)
Civil, criminal, family. Separate portal for County Clerk records.
Travis District Clerk
Collin (Plano/McKinney)
District and county courts.
Collin District Clerk
Denton
District, county-level, probate.
Denton District Clerk

How to Find Records in a County That Isn’t on re:SearchTX

Roughly a hundred smaller Texas counties either don’t publish case searches online or publish only the barest data. For those, you have three options.

Google “[county name] county Texas district clerk”This surfaces the official .gov or .org site almost every time. Skip sponsored results and third-party aggregators — they charge for public data.
Call the clerk’s office directlyMost small-county clerks will look up a case over the phone in under a minute if you give them a name or cause number. They can’t quote legal advice, but basic status (open/closed, next hearing, attorney of record) is fair game.
Request by mail or emailSend a written request with: full name of the party, approximate filing year, case type if known, and a self-addressed stamped envelope if you want paper copies mailed back. Most clerks respond within 10 business days.

Texas Office of Court Administration — The Agency Behind the Portals

The Texas Office of Court Administration (OCA) is the administrative backbone of the state judiciary. They don’t hold individual case records, but they run the statewide search tools, publish court statistics, train clerks, and manage the Public Safety Report System for bail data. When a link on re:SearchTX or TAMES breaks, this is the office to contact.

Texas Office of Court Administration
205 W 14th Street, Suite 600
Austin, TX 78701
Phone: (512) 463-1625 · Email: information@txcourts.gov
txcourts.gov

What Does It Cost to Get a Texas Court Record?

Nothing surprises first-time searchers more than this: the records themselves are public, but copies carry fees set by state statute. Here’s what you’ll actually pay.

Request Type
Typical Cost
Notes
re:SearchTX case index view
Free
Registration required, no per-search charge
re:SearchTX document download
~$0.10/page, $6 max per doc
30-day access window per purchase
Regular copy from clerk
$1 per page
Statutory rate, uniform statewide
Certified copy
$1/page + $5 certification
Required for most legal filings
Exemplified / authenticated copy
$1/page + $15 fee
For use in out-of-state or federal court
E-filing (new case)
~$300 + court costs
Varies by court and case type
Petition for expunction
~$300 filing fee
County-dependent; fee waivers possible
✅ Fee waiver exists: If you can’t afford filing fees, Texas Rule of Civil Procedure 145 lets you file a Statement of Inability to Afford Payment of Court Costs. The clerk waives fees for copies and filings. Forms are at texaslawhelp.org — free, official, no attorney required to use them.

Texas Court Record Types You’ll Run Into

Criminal Case Records

Show the charge, arrest details, court, judge, attorney of record, bail, every setting, the disposition, and sentencing if there was one. Felonies sit with the district clerk; misdemeanors with the county clerk. Pending cases are open; juvenile cases generally aren’t.

Civil Case Records

Lawsuits over money, contracts, property, personal injury, business disputes. All filings, pleadings, motions, orders, and judgments are public unless specifically sealed. Dollar amount in dispute determines whether it’s district court (generally over $200) or justice/county court (under $200 to $20,000 for justice courts).

Family Court Records

Divorce, custody, child support, paternity, adoption, protective orders. The case existence is public, but financial affidavits, child-related exhibits, and custody evaluations are usually sealed or heavily redacted. Adoption records are effectively always sealed.

Probate Records

Wills, estate administration, guardianships. County clerk records (or probate court in large counties). Mostly public once the estate is opened.

Appellate Records

Briefs, oral argument recordings, opinions, orders. On TAMES. Opinions are always public. Briefs and some filings may be purchase-to-view.

Sealed, Expunged, and Confidential Records — What You Can’t Get

Not everything is public. Texas law seals or restricts several categories, and attempts to get around the restrictions run into legal walls fast.

  • Expunged records — legally destroyed under Texas Code of Criminal Procedure Article 55.01. They stop existing as a matter of law.
  • Nondisclosed records — sealed from public view under Government Code § 411.071. Law enforcement can still see them.
  • Juvenile records — protected under Texas Family Code Chapter 58. Very limited public access.
  • Sealed civil records — sealed by court order under Rule 76a. The party seeking the seal has to show a specific need.
  • Mental health commitment files — protected by state health privacy laws.
  • Adoption records — sealed unless a specific court order opens them.
  • Grand jury proceedings — confidential by statute. Only the result (indictment or no-bill) is public.

How to Request a Certified Copy — Step by Step

A certified copy is the version the court, DMV, employer, or another court will actually accept. It has the clerk’s seal, a certification statement, and the clerk’s signature. A plain downloaded PDF won’t do.

Identify the correct clerk’s officeDistrict clerk for felony, civil district, or family. County clerk for misdemeanor, probate, or smaller civil. Wrong office = referral + time lost.
Call first to confirm hours, fee schedule, and accepted paymentSome counties accept credit cards online, some only take checks and money orders in person. Don’t assume.
Gather what you need: cause number, case caption, year of filing, exact document wanted“Any divorce records for John Smith” is a bad request. “Final Decree of Divorce in Cause No. 2019-DCV-01234, Smith v. Smith, filed 2019 in Bexar County” is a good one.
Submit the request — in person, by mail, or online where offeredInclude a self-addressed stamped envelope for mail requests. Write the case caption on a separate page so it’s easy to match to file.
Pay the fee — $1/page plus $5 certificationExact totals vary. A 30-page divorce decree runs about $35 certified. Some clerks will estimate by phone before processing.
Receive the document — typically 5 to 10 business daysRush service is sometimes available for an additional fee. In-person requests to small counties can often be completed the same day if staff is available.

Local Insider Tips — The Stuff Nobody Writes About

💡 The two-clerk trap: In nearly every Texas courthouse, District Clerk and County Clerk are on different floors or in different wings. They don’t share records. A criminal misdemeanor is with the county clerk; a felony with the district clerk. Ask which you need before leaving home.
💡 Friday afternoon is dead time: Clerk offices across Texas slow to a crawl after 3 PM Friday. Records staff run end-of-week filing. Come Monday morning between 9 and 11 AM — that’s the sweet spot.
💡 The cause number hack: If you have a cause number from an old Texas case and can’t find which county it’s from, paste it into Google with quotes around it. Texas attorneys routinely cite cause numbers in court filings and briefs — one of those filings usually shows the county.
💡 Smaller counties answer the phone: In counties under 50,000 population, the district clerk or a deputy often answers the main number directly. Be polite, have your cause number ready, and you’ll usually get what you need in one call. The same approach in Harris or Dallas will put you in a phone tree for 20 minutes.
💡 Check hcdistrictclerk.com even for non-Harris cases: Harris County’s independent portal sometimes indexes cases that were transferred out or involved Harris parties. Useful for multi-county civil disputes.
💡 The state law library will help: The Texas State Law Library runs a free Document Delivery Service for certain appellate cases. If you’re researching a 3rd COA criminal case, Court of Criminal Appeals case, or Supreme Court case, email lawlibrary@sll.texas.gov and staff will help pull records.

Common Search Problems and How to Fix Them

“No results” for someone you know has a case

Try last name only. Try last name + date-of-birth year. Try maiden name. Try nickname vs legal name. Try the name with and without middle initial. One of these usually unlocks it. If none do, the county may not integrate with re:SearchTX — call the clerk directly.

You see the case but can’t open the documents

Either the documents weren’t e-filed (older cases often aren’t), or they’re sealed, or your account doesn’t have party-level access. For older paper cases, the clerk has a physical file you can view in person.

The cause number you have doesn’t match anything

Texas appellate cause numbers and trial court cause numbers look similar but aren’t interchangeable. 24-0321 (Supreme Court) versus 2024-DCV-00321 (district court) are totally different cases. Double-check which court issued the number before searching.

You want records for a case from before 2000

Older records may not be digitized at all. The clerk keeps physical case files in off-site storage for decades. Request by mail with as much detail as you can — case caption, approximate year, and any attorney name — and expect a longer response time.

Related Texas Legal Resources

Texas Judicial BranchMain hub — directory of every court in the state, court rules, forms TexasLawHelp.orgFree legal aid, self-help forms, legal topic explainers State Bar of TexasFind a lawyer, file a grievance, referral service: 1-800-504-2092 Texas StatutesFull, searchable text of every Texas law Texas Attorney GeneralOpen records disputes, consumer complaints Texas State Law LibraryMost thorough legal research guides in Texas

Frequently Asked Questions

Are all Texas court records public?
Most are. Criminal, civil, family, probate, and appellate filings are generally open to anyone. The big exceptions are juvenile cases, adoption records, sealed civil cases under Rule 76a, mental health commitments, expunged records (which legally no longer exist), and records under a nondisclosure order. You don’t need to state a reason or identify yourself to view open records — Texas courts are open by default.
How far back do Texas court records go online?
re:SearchTX coverage for the general public starts around November 2018 for most participating counties. Older cases exist in the clerks’ physical files and older digital systems but aren’t typically surfaced in the public portal. For pre-2018 cases, you’ll need to contact the clerk directly. The Texas Supreme Court archives opinions back to 1997 on its website, with older historical cases available through the State Law Library.
Can employers use Texas court records for background checks?
Employers can view public records, but using them for hiring decisions triggers the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act if done through a consumer reporting agency. Arrests without convictions have limited usability under some state and federal guidance. For formal employment screening, the standard source is a DPS criminal history check, not online mugshot or docket sites — those are often outdated and may include records that were later expunged.
What’s the difference between re:SearchTX and the county clerk’s site?
re:SearchTX is a statewide aggregator — it pulls from the e-filing system and shows case index info across participating counties. County clerk portals are the original source and usually include more detail, faster updates, and additional record types like property deeds and vital records that re:SearchTX doesn’t cover. For a quick cross-county name search, use re:SearchTX. For deep case detail, go to the county clerk directly.
Why am I getting charged for documents on a public record?
The record itself is free to view in person at the clerk’s office. What you’re paying for is the copy — the paper, the staff time, the certification. Texas statutes set copy fees at $1 per page, and re:SearchTX charges around $0.10 per page for downloaded documents (capped at $6). Parties to the case get their own documents free. Anyone else pays.
Can I look up someone’s criminal history through court records?
You can find individual criminal cases filed in specific counties, but Texas does not allow private individuals to pull an all-state criminal history the way law enforcement can. For a formal name-based background check, use the Texas DPS Criminal History Search at records.txdps.state.tx.us. For a specific case, re:SearchTX and county clerk portals are the right tools.
How do I find a Texas court case when I only know the year and the person’s name?
Log into re:SearchTX, enter the name as “Last, First,” and set a date range covering the year. If the case was filed in a county integrated with the portal, it’ll appear. If not, narrow the search to likely counties by where the person lived or was arrested, then check each county’s district clerk portal manually. For old cases (pre-2018), direct phone calls to the clerk are usually faster than the portals.
Is there a Texas version of PACER?
re:SearchTX is the closest equivalent — it was explicitly designed to mirror the federal PACER system for Texas state courts. TAMES handles the appellate side. For federal court cases filed in Texas, you still need the actual PACER at pacer.uscourts.gov, which is a separate federal system.
Can I search Texas traffic and municipal court records?
Usually not through the statewide portals. Municipal courts handle city ordinance violations and traffic tickets, and each city runs its own system. Search “[city name] municipal court case search” for the local portal. Justice of the Peace courts handle Class C misdemeanors and small claims — those records are held at the precinct level and may or may not be online depending on the county.
What do I do if a record has incorrect information about me?
File a motion in the court that issued the record asking for correction — this is sometimes called a nunc pro tunc motion when it’s a clerical error. If the record involves a case that was dismissed, acquitted, or pretrial diversion was completed, petition for expunction under Article 55.01 to have the record legally destroyed. Free forms and guidance are available at texaslawhelp.org, or consult an attorney — the State Bar referral line is 1-800-504-2092.

Before You Close This Tab

Texas court records aren’t locked away. They’re just spread thin. If you remember only two things, remember these: re:SearchTX for trial court cases, TAMES for appellate. Everything else is variation on that theme — same data, different front door.

If you hit a dead end on a portal, the clerk is always the fallback. Texas clerks are some of the most professional public servants in the state, and they’ll help you if you’re polite, specific, and patient. Call before you drive. Have your cause number and year ready. Know whether your case sits with the district clerk or the county clerk. Those three habits will save you more time than any search trick.

And if something on this page goes stale, let us know. Every link was verified against the official source in April 2026 — and we keep them that way.

Editorial & Verification Notice This guide was manually written and researched by humans, not AI. We personally verify every link to ensure it leads directly to official government databases, keeping you safe from spam and third-party redirects. All screenshots and instructions are based on our actual manual testing of these systems. We frequently update this page to ensure accuracy.

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